News and Features
Related to Health Care Reform

By Anna Gorman
Medi-Cal applicants who have been waiting for more than 45 days can receive temporary health benefits while officials determine eligibility for the public insurance program, a state Superior Court judge ruled this week. The decision came in a lawsuit filed in September alleging that a

By Anna Gorman
PASADENA, Calif. — Angel Torres hasn’t been to the doctor since coming to the United States illegally more than two decades ago. But now, his vision is getting blurry and he frequently feels tired. Torres, 51, worries he might have diabetes like his brothers. “Time is passing,” he sai

By April Dembosky, KQED and Jeff Cohen, WNPR
Are you thinking about tax day yet? Your friendly neighborhood tax preparer is. IRS Commissioner John Koskinen declared this tax season one of the most complicated ever, and tax preparers from coast to coast are trying to get ready for the first year that

By Pauline Bartolone, Capital Public Radio
When Dennie Wright went to sign up for Affordable Care Act insurance last year, it wasn’t a hard decision. His insurance agent told him he had only one insurer – Anthem Blue Cross – that he could buy from on the exchange, Covered California. Wright lives in

By Jordan Rau
In health insurance prices, as in the weather, Alaska and the Sun Belt are extremes. This year Alaska is the most expensive health insurance market for people who do not get coverage through their employers, while Phoenix, Albuquerque, N.M., and Tucson, Ariz., are among the very cheape

By Clay Masters, Iowa Public Radio
It was a heck of a Christmas for David Fairchild and his wife, Clara Peterson. They found out they were about to lose their new health insurance. “Clara was listening to the news on Iowa Public Radio and that’s how we found out,” Fairchild says. They went to their

By Phil Galewitz
PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. — Rita Gorenflo’s 7-year-old son Nathaniel was in severe pain from a sinus infection. But since the boy was covered by Medicaid, she couldn’t immediately find a specialist willing to see him. After days of calling, she was finally able to get Nathaniel an a

By Michelle Andrews
In December, the Food and Drug Administration approved a new anti-obesity drug, Saxenda, the fourth prescription drug the agency has given the green light to fight obesity since 2012. But even though two-thirds of adults are overweight or obese — and many may need help sticking t

By Eric Whitney, Montana Public Radio
The Affordable Care Act is on the move in Western states, with the governors of Utah, Wyoming and Montana all working to hammer out deals with the Obama administration to expand Medicaid in ways tailored to each state. But getting the federal stamp of approval i